Downtown Charlevoix Parks

Hoffman Park

COST OF PROJECT: $71,000

COMPLETION DATE: August 1988

Hoffmann Park is located on Park Avenue between Bridge Street and State Street, overlooking and providing a walkway to the Pine River Channel. The park also houses an old turn key used to manually open the Bridge.

In 1908, the home located at 103 Park Avenue was purchased by the government to be used as a dwelling for the keeper of the Charlevoix Lighthouse. The keeper's dwelling was purchased by Dr. Walter Hoffmann in 1962, but was removed from the property in 1984. The Hoffmann family donated the land where the dwelling once stood to the City of Charlevoix for use as a park. A metal plaque, in what is now called Hoffmann Park, provides a depiction of the old home.

Bridge Park and Sublevel Commercial Space

COST OF PROJECT: $5.65 million

COMPLETION DATE: August 1996

The development of Bridge Park served two important purposes. First, it provides expansive green space in a downtown setting with breathtaking views of Round Lake. But there's more than meets the eye to this scenic overlook. The project also provides a permanent home for the Beaver Island Boat Company and the Keweenaw Excursions underneath the green grass, picnic tables and umbrellas.

Utilizing innovative engineering and a waterproof membrane, the offices of the portal to beaver Island and the sightseeing cruise ship serve thousands of passengers annually while tucked away only yards from Round Lake and the ferrydock. The United States Coast Guard utilized another portion of the building through June 2006 when the decommissioning of the Charlevoix buoy tender USCGC Acacia prompted the closing of the Coast Guard Offices there.